Riverdale’s Tommy Martinez opens up about same-sex experience
Tommy Martinez attends the premiere of Freeform’s “Good Trouble” at Palace Theatre on January 08, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
Riverdale star Tommy Martinez has revealed that playing a bisexual character on The Fosters‘ spin-off Good Trouble has allowed him to be more open about his own sexuality.
According to The Advocate, the 26-year-old actor told journalists during a promotional event for the show back in January that he had had a same-sex experience when he was a teenager.
Martinez detailed how the Hispanic community is typically religious and strict in regards to its attitudes towards LGBTQ people, so he didn’t feel like he could talk to anyone about it until more recently.
Tommy Martinez talks about sexuality
“I had an experience with a man maybe 10 years ago, and this is the first time that I’m saying that publicly,” Martinez recalled.
“And throughout that whole time, I felt like I was put into the shadows because the way that my community was, the way that they spoke about [LGBTQ people], [the] Hispanic community are very religious and strict. I[t’s the] same with many other people in the world and here in America.”
“The way that they talked about homosexuality or even just experiencing something like that with slurs or what have you, my friend said the same thing, so I had nobody to talk to about [my own experience].”
Martinez is currently dating The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina actor Adeline Rudolph (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty)
Martinez is currently dating fellow actor Adeline Rudolph, who is best known for playing witch Agatha in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Like Riverdale, the show is based on a series published by Archie Comics. It also stars Wonder Woman‘s Lucy Davis, The Lord of Rings‘ Miranda Otto and Mad Men‘s Kiernan Shipka.
Gael Martinez is an artist who embarks on a relationship with Callie Adams Foster (Maia Mitchell) in The Fosters’ spin off Good Trouble
Good Trouble follows Mariana Adams Foster (Cierra Ramirez) and Callie Adams Foster (Maia Mitchell), who have just moved from their mothers’ house in San Diego to start anew in Los Angeles. While there, the latter embarks on a romantic relationship with Martinez’s character Gael, an artist who is attracted to men as well as women.
Tommy Martinez on how he relates to his bisexual Good Trouble character
Martinez admitted that Gael’s assurance in himself gave him confidence and that he felt it was the right time to share his story during the interview. The Advocate reports that “the room erupted in applause of support when [he] finished.”
“I saw myself completely in Gael’s shoes.”
— Tommy Martinez
“With his sexuality, in the places I grew up in, it was something that was never talked about, nor was it ever challenged,” Martinez explained. “I know plenty of people from my high school that are gay but are still not out to this day and I know a buddy here in LA who still isn’t out.”
“I saw myself completely in Gael’s shoes,” he added. “And so when I got that audition notice and dove deeper into the character, I just felt right with it.”
